11 months ago
41
The Washington Post's Aaron Blake highlights a new poll probing what share of the Republican base even wants a House speaker to be elected. The first thing to know is that the poll in question, conducted by Suffolk University, is deeply goofy, asking respondents which of these two sentiments they more agree with:
1. “Congress needs to elect a Speaker as soon as possible to fund immediate needs like support for Israel, Ukraine, and to prevent a government shutdown in November,” or …
2. “I don’t care if Congress elects a Speaker. Every day that goes by without a Speaker means that Congress can’t waste more of our tax dollars.”
You can see the poll is designed to split Americans into two groups: those who are vaguely informed about politics and understand what a speaker does, and those who are generally uninformed radio listeners and base their entire personalities around what some performative turd announces during peak commuting hours. Unfortunately, it also loaded the civics-based first option with support for Ukraine and Israel, which stacks the deck against Republican support. Still, the question basically probes whether respondents ground their beliefs more in civics or trolling.
What's interesting is the sheer number of Republicans who chose the trolling option—34%—whereas only 57% preferred to have a speaker and a functioning government. But—surprise!—not caring whether the government remains open jumps to 40% among those who support Donald Trump in the upcoming Republican primaries.
